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SUMMARY:An AUV underneath the ‘Doomsday glacier’: Revealing pathways a
 nd modification of warm water flowing beneath Thwaites ice shelf\, West An
 tarctica - Anna Wåhlin\, University of Gothenburg
DTSTART:20210113T140000Z
DTEND:20210113T150000Z
UID:TALK155443@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr. Shenjie Zhou
DESCRIPTION:The fate of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is the largest remain
 ing uncertainty in predicting sea-level rise through the next century\, an
 d its most vulnerable and rapidly changing outlet is Thwaites Glacier. Bec
 ause the seabed slope under the glacier is retrograde (downhill inland)\, 
 ice discharge from Thwaites Glacier is potentially unstable to melting of 
 the underside of its floating ice shelf and grounding line retreat\, both 
 of which can be enhanced by warm ocean water circulating underneath the ic
 e shelf. Here we present the results of two missions underneath Thwaites i
 ce shelf performed by the AUV ‘Ran’: The very first direct observation
 s of ocean temperature\, salinity\, and oxygen underneath Thwaites ice she
 lf. Using the high precision environment payload suite\, observations were
  obtained that indicate deep water (> 800 m) underneath the central part o
 f the ice shelf is in connection with Pine Island Bay\, a previously unkno
 wn westward branch of warm deep water entering the ice shelf cavity. Warm 
 water also enters from the north in two troughs separated by a pinning poi
 nt. Spatial gradients of salinity\, temperature and oxygen recorded undern
 eath the ice shelf indicate that this is an active region where several wa
 ter masses meet and mixes. The observations identify the central buttressi
 ng point as a vulnerable region of change currently under attack by warm w
 ater inflow from all sides: a scenario that may lead to ungrounding and re
 treat more quickly than previously expected. 
LOCATION:British Antarctic Survey\, Zoom
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